HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG, (Indonesia): Trade activities were tepid in Vietnam this week on low supplies and high prices, while premiums in Indonesia fell amid increasing London prices and ahead of the harvest, traders said on Thursday.

Farmers in the central highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing area, were selling beans for 120,000-121,200 dong ($4.71-$4.76) per kg, up from 110,000-114,500 dong a week ago.

Robusta coffee for July delivery settled up 0.4% on Wednesday, at $4,042 per metric ton. “Trade is very tepid now as supplies from both dealers and farmers are very thin,” said a trader based in the coffee belt.

“Some roasters had to buy robusta beans from Brazil to fulfil their needs, but it takes around three months for the beans to arrive here not to mention additional import tax they had to pay.” Another trader based in the coffee belt said that rainfall had been recorded in the growing area but “damages already occurred”.

Traders offered 5% black and broken-grade 2 robusta at a premium of $600-$700 per ton to the July contract. Vietnam exported 833,000 metric tons of coffee in the first five months of this year, down 3.9% from a year earlier, government data showed. However, coffee export revenue in the same period rose 44% to $2.9 billion.